Photos taken in 1938, photographer Bruce Mozertom near the coast of Florida Silver Springs. Over the 45 years he has done photos coast of Florida and its inhabitants. He actually was one of the pioneers of underwater photography.

via Old Underwater Photography | bored-bored.com.

I have recently joined a group on flickr called “Delete me Uncensored”. I did it because I wanted some honest feedback on my photos. Great idea, right? Well, I’m not so sure. Having been in art school I’m a big fan of  the tough no holds barred critique. That said, in art school that critique came with some constructive criticism.  I have seen people leave critiques in tears, and in school I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Now here’s the problem. This group encourages fast critiques of photos with what ends up being most people’s first gut reaction. Great. But comments like “<sarcasm>Come on</sarcasm>” really don’t do much for me. Nor do they help. Every picture I have submitted is one that I find interesting, but that is not worth anything, since I”m emotionally attached to them. And in fairness I love the group because it has shown me some things in my pictures that I didn’t notice, making me aware of how I can make them better. For this I am thankful. 

Yet in the end, I’m not sure how much longer I will post there. I feel like as the group grows the comments are becoming less helpful. I have had pictures pass the test and move on to the “winners” group, so I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m whining. I really love the toughness, I just don’t think it’s constructive anymore.

This picture, something that I freely admit is not for everyone, recieved no positive feedback or “positive votes”. No worries, I understand. That said I really like this picture, why? Well it feels like India to me. Things are a bit off kilter at times, and the colors are varied, and unpredictable. The people standing whereever they want also adds to that feel. I might have rated it poorly too if it had not been my own, but that’s the best part of taking pictures. It’s first all about you.

Playing with posting from the bookmarklet provided in Wordpress. Pretty slick and easy to use. Might need to use this more. BTW, SHEEP!